My senior cat with cancer is losing weight and won't eat. Help!
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 12 years and 2 months old | 11 lbs
Our 12 1/2 year old cat Oscar, has been diagonost with kidney and lung cancer. He's hardly eating and appetite stimulant we tried hasn't worked at all. We have bought special foods like salmon mouse and a bone meal gel, that he ate the first night we tried but not since. Do you have any suggestions as Oscar seems very alert, just very lethargic and losing weight
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on September 22nd, 2020
Hello. I am so sorry that Oscar has such a sad diagnosis. Unfortunately, either one of these can cause a significant loss of appetite. The only two appetite stimulants we have for cats are mirtazapine & cyproheptadine, & even these are not miracle drugs. Some cats prefer foods that are warm, some prefer them when cold, so you can try this. Hand feeding may work a bit as well. You can also talk to your vet about the possibility of adding some anti-nausea medication like Cerenia. Hopefully, you can at least get Oscar to eat a little more for as long as possible. Good luck & thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on June 11th, 2019
I am sorry to hear about your kitty! I would talk to your vet about an appetite stimulant, there are several we can try in cats, including mirtazapine. Talk to your vet about the options available to help Fred have an appetite. At some point, depending on the type of cancer, it may come to the point when nothing you can do will entice him to eat and it may be time to make the difficult decision to euthanize him and end his suffering.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on April 1st, 2019
I would speak with your veterinarian about appetite stimulants such as Mirtazapine and Entyce. Both of these drugs can increase the appetite but need prescriptions. I would also look into home cooked meals and see if this entices his appetite further. You can check out www.balanceit.com for homemade diet instructions. I hope this helps and that Jasper feels better soon. Please let me know if you have any further questions / concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
I have a 12 year old female cat with a tumour in the kidney area she has had steroid injections and antibiotic injections has lost a considerable amount of weight she's a fussy eater only will eat dryed chicken flavour kibble formula tryed other flav
Help/suggestions on feeding Fred diagnosed with cancer. Too old for surgery I have researched and tried so many brands of food...dry food crunched, wet foods, soups, sardines, mackerel, tuna. He is on prednisone twice daily. Any suggestions to stim
A month ago, my 13-year-old cat Sadie was diagnosed with inoperable lymphatic cancer. Because she isn't eating well, her vet gave her a steroid shot to stimulate her appetite. She shows an interest in food but still is not eating very well, yet, she
how to help my cat with cancer gain weight? he eats but he is not gaining weight
My cat was just diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. As it progresses, what s/s should I watch for to indicate his condition is worsening? He’s on Prednisolone 7.5mg PO daily. He drinks water and urinates without any problem. He eats just a few morsels
My two 13 year old cats have not been eating very well lately, and are looking pretty thin. I thought it might be their teeth, so I feed them Friskies soft food alternated with pretty high quality dry food, but they don't seem very interested in eith
My cat was diagnosed with lymphoma yesterday. She has lost 1kg in about 6 weeks, she has gone off food and not eating so much, she is so skinny now and lost muscle, how can I get her to eat to give her some energy put some weight back on.
Hi! Trix is in treatment for small cell lymphoma for 3 mths now.she takes Leukeran every 2 wks,prednisolone every day, mirtazapine every 48hrs&cerenia as needed. Her appetite is decent but she never likes the same food twice and I feel like I’ve trie
My cat is 15 years old, lately he has been losing weight, but seems to be eating more actually. he also drinks a lot more water, sometimes so much that he ends up throwing up. his vet said he has some type of gastro intestine disorder and that the
Hi, My cat has cancer and he is on prednisone it is helping him eat because he was refusing before it because of the tummy cancer, I am feeding him fancy feast which doesn't make me happy but I just wanted him to be eating. What food would you recomm
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
